Whether team management made a mistake won't be known until Sunday, when newly named starter Luke McCown takes the field.

Whether it fumbled the announcement was no question.

Local public relations professionals, an NFL agent and perhaps the most prominent former Jaguar chimed in on how Garrard's gig could have come to a smoother end. Even the team's coach, Jack Del Rio, admitted it wasn't done the way he would have wanted it.

"I don't like the idea that the timing went down the way it did, but it did,'' Del Rio said. "Sometimes, it just doesn't fall the way you'd like in term of timelines.

"I would have preferred it had gone down differently, but you deal with things as you have to and we took that one to the last possible minute because it was something that we continued to hold out hope for.''

Renay Daigle of the Jacksonville PR firm Principle Creative said releasing Garrard after involving him in Tuesday's luncheon was poorly planned.

"It sends a very negative message. As a general fan and longtime Jacksonville resident - one of people that had season tickets the first three years - it does not make me want to run out and buy a ticket," Daigle said. "There has to be a better way than firing somebody right before the first game."

Retired Jags offensive tackle Tony Boselli said he'll trust coach Del Rio and general manager Gene Smith made the best decision for a good football season. But that doesn't mean what they did is easy to swallow.

"David's well-liked, and people don't like to see things like that with people who are liked and are good representatives of our city and our team," Boselli said. "It leaves a sour taste in people's mouth with the whole timing thing."

Another Jacksonville PR practitioner, Bonnie Upright, said if Del Rio and Smith knew they were giving Garrard the ax, they should have told him early Tuesday and had him skip the luncheon.

"Had the luncheon not been in play, I don't think it would quite have been the emotional reaction that people are having," Upright said. "It appeared to be somewhat of a cold move."

Garrard's firing, and the timing, became one of Tuesday's most discussed topics on social networking site Twitter. The common theme: Most people were shocked.

Ralph Cindrich, a former NFL player and Pittsburgh-based sports agent, said they shouldn't have been. He didn't expect to see Garrard go, either, but said what fans often forget is professional football is a business.

Garrard, for instance, was set to make at least $8 million this year, his 10th with the team.

"Teams and players adjust and adapt. Sometimes a situation like this can be a catalyst," Cindrich said, pointing to a similar Jaguars cut in 2007. The team fired then-quarterback Byron Leftwich to promote Garrard, who led them into the playoffs that season.

The high-profile firing doesn't seem to have had a negative effect on ticket sales for Sunday's game.

By Wednesday, fewer than 6,000 tickets remained unsold in order to avoid a blackout, according to Macky Weaver, the team's senior vice president of sales and marketing. But getting the game on television means they all have to sell by today, unless the league grants the team a 24-hour extension.

Weaver said he hadn't heard much talk about Garrard when it came to sales.

"We're probably having one of the better days we've had," Weaver said. "But it's more about 9/11 and people donating tickets for military, fire and police."

Never thought I would see myself cheering for the Titans. After the way this organization released Garrard I will be cheering for whoever we play to beat us. We all know this was more than likely Davids last season. The way this tacky organization went about releasing him was just plain ridiculous. But then again this organization is just history repeating itself. Perhaps when they fire Del A-hole I will start cheering for this team again. Del rio has done zero for this team since he has been here. Replacing Tom Coughlin for this chumpo was just another stupid move. Replacing Brunell for Dumbwhich another brilliant move by this organization. David go get your ring someplace else because with this coach the Jags will never get there. How many years can this organization blame and fire players and coaches before they realize the coach is the problem?

Madkow, another thing I agree with you on, wow. Yea I do not like the owner, coach, and gm. But still wishing the jags will step up. Hopefully, the jags will not play my packers. I can pull for the jags when playing any other team.

Fan is short for fanatic. I wish more people in Jacksonille were just that about our Jags.

1 points

MadKow

Thursday, September 8, 2011 @ 6:08 pm

You can hate the owner, you can hate the gm, you can hate the coach, and you can hate a player. I do not however see any reason to hate the team and to wish them a terrible season unless you have a hidden agenda and root for another team. If thats the case say so rather than hiding behind the pretense that your any kind of Jag fan
With that said, good night my fellow Jag fans